Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-08-20
must have the bishops name written upon

Thirty years ago it was rare TO hear
bishops and priests denounce the public
schools the palladium of our liberties and
the safeguard of American institutions"
The earlier councils of Baltimore had
nothing to say of the "godlessness, wan
toness and immoralities of the schools, of
all which we hear SO much from bishops
and priests and church journalistic organs
in these days."
He contrasts the moderation of the ex-
preston Of the Second Plenary Council of
Baltimore which did not offer to restrain
Catholic children from going to the public
schools, but made it the duty Of every
pastor to take an interest in the schools
and to secure in them the rights OF con-
science of Catholic children, with the
violent denunciations and gross calum-
MES of later day" He charges an
avowed determination to establish great
| system of parochial schools all over the
country in opposition to the public schools,
and the hope is not concealed that the
Catholic vote may become large enough to
induce Legislators to furnish public funds
to support the same" This, he claims, has
been accomplished in Poughkeepsie, New
Haven and elsewhere, and for time dur
ing an alliance between a certain set of
priests and the Tweed, Connolly,
Sweeny, Tammany rings, by which several
hundred thousand dollars were awarded
the parochial schools of New York city.
These schools are exempt from taxation,
and thus, in some sense, the public puts
premium upon schools hostile to its own,
and lays heavy burden upon the poor
Catholic people who have paid their full
share of taxes for support of the public
schools, which it is now the growing tend
ency to forbid them to use
Thirty years ago the appropriation of
valuable lands and of millions of public
money to sectarian institutions was I'M
heard OF, but il is now DONE and great in
situations of that kind are supported from
the treasury of New York city, and to
these institutions children are committed
by civil magistrates. He dwells upon the
extraordinary zeal manifested in found
ing and multiplying these schools and in
stitutions, prompted by jealousy and
rivalry Of our public schools, and the
anxiety to thus provide homes for the rap
idly increasing hosts of monks and nuns.
He thinks he risks nothing in saying that
If there were no public schools there would
be few parochial schools, and the Catholic
children, for all the churchmcn would do
for them, would grow up in british ig-
norance of letters" and the doctrine taught
by the Jesuits of Italy prevail, that the
people do not need to learn to read" that
"all they do need is bread and the cate
chism, the Latter of which they could man
age to know something of, even without
knowing how to read" He declares that
in purely Catholic countries the clergy do
not establish parochial schools. What, he
thinks, is best adapted to revive the hate
full and bigoted spirit of old Know-Noth-
ingism and justify its fears is "the actual
and direct interference in politics of bish-
ops, vicars-general, and priests in their
ecclesiastical capacity, 10 promote the Pc
cuniary and other temporal objects of the
ecclesiastical machine"
AS instances, he mentions the messages
of the late Nicar-G General Quinn, of New
York, against the constitutional amend
ments; the advocacy of legislative candi-
dates favoring generous appropriations y
the letter of Mgr. Preston to Joseph
ODonaghue in the late Mayoralty canvass
of New York the denunciation of one of
the candidates and his party (evidently
meaning Henry George from the altar;
the prohibition to priest (himself) from
speaking at public meeting as a citizen
the abuse Of the confessional in forbidding
men, under penalty of refusal of absolu-
ton, to attend the meetings of one politi-
cal party; the efforts of an Archbishop to
defeat, by abuse of his ecclesiastical posi-
ton, the call for Constitutional Conven-
ton, and his act, when Bishop, in issuing
a secret letter to New Jersey priests, telling
them to instruct their people how they
"must T" vote upon certain constitutional
amendments.
From all this the ex-priest concludes
that there is hundredfold more of cause
for new than there was for the old Know
Nothing party, and he rates the old parties
soundly and the party press for indiffer-
ence to the encroachments of the foreign
spirit, and their cowardice in fearing to
ALLEVIATE the "Catholic vote" and the
foreign vote" But he believes that there
are signs which portend the capitalization
and emphatic enunciation of an American
public opinion, free from vulgar theologi-
cal hatred and minded jealousy against
foreign-born citizens, but with purpose
of checking the evils complained of more
efiectually than by "the ridiculously in
adequate and selfish Know othingism of
restricting immigration as proposed bv
Boyesen and Powderly." He believes there
will arise organized sentiment that will
not seek remedy by creating an artificial
scarcity of population in "a land that
needs millions MORE" nor abridge religious
Liberties, or interfere with the rights of
conscience, or do any injustice. On these
lines the new policy should be built: Re
spect for the rights of conscience; separa-
ton of Church and State; making the
country refuge for the oppressed of all
nations; abolition Of all privileges to in
dividuals or corporations equal taxation
of property, and non-exemption of any
not controlled by the public for
public and common use; conduct of Gov
eminent for the common good, and never
for an individual or class; common
schools and common charities alone to
have support from the common treasury
abolition Of all taxes that repress industry
ii ,Il 80 E